Teen held over missing 'terror' man

A teenager has been arrested in connection with the disappearance of a terror suspect who escaped surveillance by dressing in a burka.

Anti-terror officers arrested the 17-year-old man this morning on suspicion of conspiring with another to breach measures in a notice issued under the Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures (Tpim) Act 2011, Scotland Yard said.

The arrest is in connection with the abscond of fugitive Mohammed Ahmed Mohamed, who was last seen fleeing a London mosque in women's clothing last November.

Mohamed, who was subject to a Tpim, is understood to have received training and fought overseas for al-Shabaab, the Somalia-based cell of al Qaida that was behind the attack on a mall in Nairobi, Kenya, that killed at least 67.

The 17-year-old, who was arrested by officers from the Met's Counter Terrorism Command (SO15) at 7am, has been taken to a south London police station where he remains in custody.

Tpims apply restrictions such as curfews, exclusion from certain areas and controlled access to computers to individuals the Home Secretary believes to have engaged in terrorism-related activity but it is not possible to prosecute or deport.

Mohamed was confined to his home overnight for 10 hours, was not allowed to leave Great Britain, was only allowed one bank account and was only permitted to have one mobile, computer and landline among other restrictions.

It emerged he had been allowed to remain on the streets despite being remanded in custody three times for suspected breaches of his Tpim. He was most recently granted bail in August last year, three months before he vanished, following allegations that he had tampered with his electronic monitoring tag.

Tpims expired between January 2 and February 10 for seven out of the 10 men subjected to them, while the remaining three suspects saw their notices revoked as two - Mohamed and Ibrahim Magag - absconded and one is in prison. Magag vanished in a black cab on Boxing Day 2012.

Tpims expire as they have a two-year limit on their use, unlike the terror control orders they replaced in January 2012.